Back to Food

Not just any old food though, delicious food, prepared by Emily, whom I have not seen properly in far too long!

An evening of great food, beautiful atmosphere, loads of laughs and company that cannot be beaten. We are all caught up now, and I definitely will not let the next catch up be too far away.

Almost Springlike

Looking back on recent blogs they have all been about food; cooking it, eating it, or at the very least trying to eat it (like my cake). I guess this is largely down to the fact it is winter and winter I often feel like doing nothing bar well staying in and eating (with my token white wine of course). But I must say this year I find it hard to even call this winter and believe me this is no complaint. Tomorrow is the last day of January and it has yet to go below freezing, in fact several days it has been in the low teens. It has been bright, sunny and this morning the birds were chirping and I had to undo my jacket. Last night as I was walking Lola I actual thought it must be the end of February not January and I am just over tired that I missed a month. If every winter was like this I may not be so excited that this is my last January for sometime in the cold.




Sunset on our walk :). Of course now I have totally jinxed it and will be reporting sub freezing temperatures by Monday...

Lost a Friend

Today I have come home only to find out I have sort have lost a friend. Albeit a women that I have never met, but nonetheless some sort of friend. Over the past two and a half years I got to know her pretty well, every morning we had breakfast together, I saw all her dinner parties, her teenage son bringing home various girls, romantic evenings, girlie evenings and her on her own cooking dinner. And today this has come to an end, she has joined rank with most of my other neighbours.

I could not believe it, she put up curtains! It was a pretty big shock and I actually feel a bit sad, I will miss guessing who every one is and so often eating our meals together.

Super Suzanna

I have to have a second post to the one I just did. After having twelve people over, the flat, as you may imagine was a disaster. As it is Sunday I thought I would wait and clean all tomorrow. But I was wrong, 20 minute Lola walk and I came back to spotless! Amazing!! If you had seen before. Suzanna is a super star!

And she just will not stop!!!

Vegan Roast

Well I finally made myself proud today. I was absolutely determined to cook a decent meal this week and think I actually succeeded today. I researched, got all ingredients, timed everything before and ended up with eight vegan roast dinner dishes. And unbelievably people ate them!!

But by far my best dish was this delicious looking cauliflower cheese (well vegan cheese).  A great way to end a beautiful and shockingly sunny and warm weekend.

Asian Disaster

After my rock hard 'edible' birthday cake, I became even more determined to follow a recipe from beginning to end. I think where I went wrong was not trying to walk before running and starting with not one course but two.
I decided on an Asian menu and thkngs started well, I went to three supermarkets to get all I needed.  I read the recipe for my Vietnamese Prawn salad ten times.  Started in my Thai soup, which actually turned out ok. Bit lacking in chilli but ok nonetheless.  I had some tasters over (Pia gave me the cook book and it was meant to be a bit of a thank you, poor Karen just stumbled into it). They politely ate it but were surprised it was from Vietnam as had no chili or in fact any ingredient from Asia in it. I then realised in my frazzled state that I had accidentally switched pages in my little cook book when shopping and ended up cooking the wrong meal altogether.
I am sticking to Mexican.

Edible Atleast

One day after deciding to improve my culinary skills by following recipes, I baked Brian a birthday cake that I did not have half of the ingredients for. So made some substitutions (water for milk, soya spread for butter..) and produced something that Brian claimed was edible. Which actually is high praise coming from such an accomplished chef :)

The middle bit was actually okay, anything around the edge was slightly rock hard as did not have the right dish to bake it in.

Chef Claire

Every night at Claire's is like being at a Michelin star restaurant (except the company, atmosphere and open bar makes it even better), she really is an exceptional cook. She has inspired me to take a recipe this week, buy everything on the list and actually follow the steps and see if I can manage something half decent.

Another lovely meal by Chef Claire!

Mexican of Sorts..

I suppose that when I have a curry in the South West of the UK it is probably not the same as one I would get in New Dheli.  So why I was expecting a Mexican in Basel to be slightly authentic I was probably expecting too much.  It could have been the Mexican decour of the restaurant that fooled me, or our Meixacn waiter, but it certainly was the most bizarre Mexican (well not Mexican) I have ever purchased and by far the most expensive.  But I guess they have to cater to the local taste buds (which I am not sure mine mirror).  Luckily, it is not about the food but all about the company, therefore I had a lovely meal with the Erin's. 

Filled with string beans and corgettes, it was just like a warm wrap.  But I am not complaining as had a great time!

The 77 girls, best year ever!

 

No regrets

A friend of mine posted an article about dying people's 37 top regrets.  I think it is a really good list and as I did not really post a list (like I usually do) about things I want to accomplish this year, I thought keeping these in mind was a good resolution for the new year.  So I have gone through and checked the ones that I do, or need to work on or do not do at all.  I think it is a good list for anyone..
1) Not travelling when you had the chance. (check, think I do this)
2) Not learning another language (going to try very hard to learn Spanish this year)
3) Staying in a bad relationship (check, got out of all these so far! Need to work on actually having a good one)
4) Forgoing sunscreen (okay, I stink at this, always forget, but going to make big effort this year not too)
5) Missing the chance to see your favourite musicians (check, seen the fabulous Madonna loads)
6) Being afraid to do things. (I am only afraid of things worth being scared of, so check!)
7) Failing to make physical activity a priority. (Check, safe to say this has become very big in last 6 months)
8) Letting yourself be defined by gender roles (oh no, I am a teacher!)
9) Not quitting a terrible job. (Check have done this before)
10) Not trying harder in school. (too late anyways)
11) Not realising how beautiful you are. (Hmmmm)
12) Being afraid to say 'I love you' (Check, I tell all my loved ones all the time)
13) Not listening to your parents advice (I think I do this)
14) Spending your youth self absorbed. (too late for me now)
15) Caring too much what other people think. (I definitely need to work on this!)
16) Supporting the dreams others over your own. (think I am okay here)
17) Wasting time, not making decisions fast enough. (Have made this error before, will not again!)
18) Holding grudges (never do)
19) Not standing up for yourself. (very guilty of this, need to work on it)
20) Not volunteering enough. (Guilty again, but making a big life change this summer to fix)
21) Neglecting your teeth, maybe annoying but better than losing. (who has time to floss! I better start)
22) Missing the chance to talk to your grandparents (too late, but did)
23) Working too much. (working on life/work balance this year)
24) Not learning how to cook one good meal. (working on it)
25) Not stopping to appreciate the moment. (think i do)
26) Failing to finish what you start. (think I do finish what I start)
27) Never mastering one awesome party trick. (nope, not yet)
28) Letting yourself be defined by cultural expectations. (try not to be, think this is really important and to many people let themselves be defined)
29) Refusing to let friendships run their course. (need to be better at this)
30) Not playing enough with your kids (I play a lot with Lola)
31) Never taking a big risk (especially in love). (have done this, and will do again, for and not for love)
32) Not taking time to develop contacts and network. (think have managed so far)
33) Worrying too much. (guilty)
34) Getting caught up in needless drama. (damn, I usually am the drama)
35) Not spending enough time with loved ones. (miss my family all the time)
36) Never performing in front of others. (I do five days a week)
37) Not being grateful sooner. (grateful everyday)
So I have a few things to work on, I think it is a really good check list.  How did you do?

Swede's

I always go on that Swede's are one of my favourite nationalities, that I think they are all lovely and kind (not to generalise of course) and although this is possibly true I actually think what I mean is the Gökstorp's are my favourite type of people. Going there for dinner is always such a treat, first I get to spend time with Asa and Mats (although Mats has failed me in an important task set for him), then I also get Asa's amazing cooking and baking, Lola is thrilled as she loves Asa more than me and this time we both even got presents!
Terrific evening catching up, basically me just blabbering on :)

Girl Power

After a long week of being under the weather, it was great to finally get out and dressed up for a Moroccan meal made by the Romanian girls. Just being with these fabulous ladies made a world of difference, definitely on the mend :)

There is certainly no better medicine than laughter and great girl friends.

Baby Jessica

Beautiful Jessica Anne Weir finally decided to join us yesterday morning. She is absolutely gorgeous and both her and Ellie are glowing. Mr. Weir also seems to be holding it together (although I think he is out now buying the shot gun).

So happy for them both :) and so excited to be Auntie again (although not the changing diaper Auntie, more the first wine Auntie).

No Ski Camp

I should be getting ready to hit the slopes this morning and instead I am being nursed back to health by me fabulous friends. I think my body finally succumbed to exhaustion and what ever else this week so am now at home sick.
But not to worry, will be back on my feet soon. How can I not be with all the wonderful people in my life spoiling me unnecessarily rotten.

Movie Week

If the last week of my life were made into a film, I honestly think it would flop mainly as no one would believe it. A week of ups and downs, fabulous people and less desirables, of missing planes by minutes, entertaining oneself for 24 hours while waiting on next 1200 Euro flight and then finally getting off the plane to find all luggage had been lost (I actually was laughing at this point). But I am home and have wonderful friends that have spoilt me rotten, big cuddles with Lola and a beautiful sunny day.

Most Expensive Beach Day Ever

Well it looks like my vacation will end just the way it began, a day at Sentosa island and more specifically the beach. My plane in Phuket was called off after boarding due to technical difficulties, it took another 4 hours to fix the plane and even longer to board again, subsequently I then missed the gate closing of flight in Singapore by 8 minutes. I think this is possibly the most expensive vacation I have ever had, with the price of my ticket home now costing more than the original return flight (the airline did offer to get me home on their next available seat, but thought work might not appreciate a January 15th return).

The positive thing is I was struggling to come up with ten things to accomplish this year (as write list every year). Now it is just stay in watch movies for the entire year and spend no money!

Last Day

It is my final day of holiday, safe to say it has been a huge learning experience. It feels like months ago I was in Malaysia or Singapore with Chris and Pia. I will spend my final day on the beautiful beach, and probably a couple more Pad Thai's.

Honestly, had twice a day every day (except one or two soups)

The beach is stunning
Thailand is certainly beautiful and loads of lovely people. But I think it is certainly a place one needs to be extra vigilant as well, and letting your guard down at anytime is really not advisable. Anyways, I am safe and sound and looking forward to seeing friends and Lola cola, but hate the thought of the cold again!